SPECIAL EDITORIAL: The Otodo-Gbame Evictions by the Lagos State Government cannot be swept under the carpet

Lagos

A week ago, bulldozers of the Lagos State Government rolled into Otodo-Gbame, a fishing settlement outside Lekki which the state government terms “illegal” and demolished houses and properties there. By the time they were done, nearly 4700 people were rendered homeless.

This is the second time that the state government will embark on demolition in Otodo-Gbame, which is the largest of such “illegal” fishing settlements in six months. This is despite an order of a Lagos State High Court, which stopped Governor Akinwunmi Ambode from carrying out his threat to demolish all illegal fishing settlements.

This newspaper condemns in its entirety these illegal demolitions by the Lagos State Government and finds these actions shameful.

It is wrong of the state government has chosen to disobey the order of a court of competent jurisdiction, which is the very definition of impunity and the start of a slide into anarchy. It is disgraceful that a state government will decide to arrogate to itself the prerogative of which court orders to obey, apparently based on how it agrees with the order.

It is also shameful and a dereliction of duty on the part of the government that it is bent on demolishing settlements like Otodo-Gbame without neither notice nor alternative housing arrangements for the residents.

While we empathize with the pressure on the state government to make efficient use of the limited land mass of Lagos State in order to ensure it meets the needs of residents, we do not think it is justification to embark on indiscriminate demolitions on communities.

Otodo-Gbame is not the first of such demolitions; in 2012, the state government partially demolished Makoko, a slum which consisted of shacks built on stilts on the lagoon. Even popular highbrow areas such as Lekki Phase 1 and some parts of the Victoria Island came to be after the demolition in 1990 of Maroko, a slum and shanty community. This was also done in the same indiscriminate manner and accompanied by violence, without any compensation for the then residents.

It seems very likely that it is in this direction that the fate of Otodo-Gbame is headed: where land is seized from the poor and down-trodden of the society who are evicted from it, and then converted into a highbrow and a community for the exclusive preserve of the rich. This further buttresses the belief of many that the Lagos State Government seems bent on making the city uninhabitable for those without means.

This must not be allowed to continue.

The Lagos State Government must immediately begin efforts to assuage the pain of those affected by this demolition by either compensating them or providing them with alternative housing.

Furthermore, the state government must address the issue of affordable housing and land rights for all, irrespective of their economic status. It amounts to injustice to evict communities from land they have lived on for years and even generations without making alternative provisions for them. Cities all over the world always try to provide subsidized or free public housing for those without means, and it is about time that Lagos State started heading in that direction.

As the city continues to grow, the government should explore ways of sustainable urban planning where space can be efficiently used without having to demolish and displace communities such as Otodo-Gbame.

Lastly, the state government has to respect court orders and judgments, irrespective in whose favour it goes. The continuous disregard of these orders entrench a practice of illegality and start the downward slide of the society into anarchy.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

cool good eh love2 cute confused notgood numb disgusting fail